Senate Republicans Block Schumer’s Attempt to Subpoena White House Witnesses, Docs

After Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) proposed an amendment Tuesday to the rules for President Trump’s impeachment trial in order to subpoena witnesses and documents from the White House, it failed in a party-line vote.

All 53 Republicans in the GOP-controlled Senate voted against Schumer’s amendment, which asked for any records created by former national-security adviser John Bolton, Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, and Mulvaney aide Robert Blair regarding the White House’s dealings with Ukraine.

The current rules proposed by Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) mirror those of President Bill Clinton’s trial, with a vote to call witnesses occurring only after hearing opening arguments. On Tuesday, McConnell submitted a last-minute change to increase the length of opening arguments from two days to three, as well as to include evidence from the House.